Melina Kibbe, MD reached a significant milestone in September 2025 when she assumed the role of president of UTHealth Houston and the Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair. Before this appointment, she served as a medical school dean and chief health affairs officer at a public academic institution. She is nationally recognized for her career in vascular surgery and previously served as chair of the Department of Surgery at a major university. Earlier in her professional journey, she held senior research leadership roles within academic surgery and a multidisciplinary biomedical research institute. She earned her medical degree from the University of Chicago and completed her internship, residency, and research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She later completed a vascular surgery fellowship at Northwestern University. Her clinical experience includes both open and endovascular procedures, and she is board-certified in general and vascular surgery with RVT and RPVI certifications.
Her research work centers on the development of drug-eluting therapies for patients with vascular disease and on understanding how these therapies affect blood vessels. She has served as a principal investigator on research funded by several federal and national organizations. In addition, she has contributed as a co-investigator, consultant, or mentor on many other supported projects. She has taken leadership roles in gene- and cell-based clinical trials for patients with critical limb ischemia and has advised on trials involving peripheral artery disease. Her research efforts have resulted in more than ten patents or provisional patents. In 2009, she received a national early-career award recognizing her contributions to scientific research.
She has held numerous leadership roles at the national level within academic surgery. She currently serves as editor-in-chief of a leading surgical journal and has previously been president of several professional surgical societies. She has also served in officer and committee leadership positions within major national organizations and remains actively involved in many professional groups. Her professional achievements led to election into respected medical honor societies, including one of the highest advisory bodies in medicine in the United States.
She has also been a consistent advocate for sex inclusion in biomedical research. Her publications examining sex bias in surgical research gained national and international attention and led to interviews with major media outlets. This work contributed to policy discussions with federal agencies and supported legislative efforts to improve inclusive research practices.
Her academic record includes more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and over 240 abstracts presented at national and international meetings. She has received numerous awards for leadership, service, equity, and education, including more than twenty honors for teaching excellence. Melina Kibbe, MD also co-founded a biomedical company focused on vascular device development and served as its chief medical officer. Born and raised in Southern California, she later completed executive leadership and management training to support her work in academic medicine.
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